Max Howard Returns for Industry Feedback

admin

April 24, 2025

1 View 0

SaveSavedRemoved 0

Max Howard

Max Howard

Max has set up and run animation studios for Walt Disney Feature Animation in London, Paris, Orlando and Los Angeles, and in the late 1990s was president of Warner Bros. Feature Animation; his credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Igor.

Melwood Pictures
Max also runs two independent film companies, Melwood Pictures, and the Max Howard Consulting Group. He has an honourary Doctorate of Arts from Teesside University, and is the Chancellor of Middlesbrough Children’s University. In 2015 Max began working in China for the DeTao Group, where he has been developing animated feature films based on Chinese content.

The Importance of Story

Every film begins with a story

Max stresses the importance of a clear, well-told story. One of the biggest challenges of film-making is seeing your work through the eyes of an audience which has never seen it before, and taking nothing for granted.

Is it Clear?

Just because you know the story of your film, that doesn’t mean that the audience will understand it. Being able to tell a clear story with an emotional connection is one of the core skills our students learn at Escape Studios.

Avoid Clichés (but make sure you have a better idea)

All filmmakers like to avoid clichés, but they should not be avoided at any price, especially if by avoiding the cliché the storytelling becomes unclear. Clichés work – so beware of throwing them out – unless you have a better idea.

Film conventions such as violins playing over emotional scenes, or rain beating on a window, exist for a reason. These are clichés, but they work. If you get rid of the cliché, first make sure you have a better solution.

The Art of the pitch
Max has a good deal to say about the art of the pitch, especially the confidence that needs to go with a strong pitch. When you pitch, your goal is to “take control of the room”.

And, whatever you show, try to “avoid qualifying what you’ve done – don’t apologise for it”. You are there to inspire confidence and leadership.

Feedback from Framestore’s Oz Gani

Industry feedback
Here at Escape Studios we also host regular industry feedback sessions, where students can get
feedback from industry guests. Industry feedback forms one of the five pillars of “The Escape Method”, and is important because it helps to keep us grounded in
the real world of the animation industry, reminding us of what animators
will be expected to do when they are facing actual clients.

Getting feedback for our students from industry is very much at the
heart of what we do at Escape Studios, and there is no better way to get
our students up to industry standard than to bring in professionals to
critique their work.

Undergraduate Student Experience at Escape Studios